Maghaz Masala

Ingredients

The brain

• 500 ggoat or lamb brain
• read the safety note first
• from a licensed butcher
• very fresh
• or 500 g paneer, or firm tofu
• for a version without brain

For soaking and cleaning

• cold water
• 1 tablespoonsalt
• 1 tablespoonvinegar
• or the juice of a lemon

The base

• 4 tablespoonsoil
• or ghee
• 2large onions, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoonsginger and garlic paste
• or 6 cloves garlic and a thumb of ginger
• 3tomatoes, chopped
• or 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 3green chillies, chopped
• or to taste

The spices

• 1 teaspoonground coriander
• 1 teaspoonground cumin
• half a teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoonchilli powder
• half a teaspoon garam masala
• added at the end
• 1 teaspoonsalt, or to taste
• half a teaspoon black pepper

To finish

• a large handful of coriander leaf
• a thumb of ginger, in fine strips
• juice of half a lemon
• 2green chillies, slit

To serve

• naan, or roti
• sliced onion and lemon
• raita, optional

Directions

1. Use it the day you buy it. Wash everything thoroughly afterwards. Cook it right through. Do not serve it pink or soft in the centre. Put the brain in a bowl of cold salted water. Add a tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice. Soak it for at least an hour. Keep going until it runs fairly clear. Brain is covered by a thin membrane. Work under cold running water. Peel the membrane away with your fingers.
2. Pull out the visible blood vessels. Use the tip of a knife where needed. It takes about ten minutes. Simmer it in salted water for five minutes. Add a little turmeric to the water. Blanched brain holds together long enough to fry.
3. Heat the oil in a wide heavy pan. Add the finely chopped onions. Cook them for fifteen to twenty minutes. They should turn deep golden and jammy. Take them off just before they look ready. They keep browning in the residual heat. Fry the paste for two minutes. The raw smell should go. Add the coriander, cumin, turmeric and chilli powder.
4. Fry them for a minute. Add a splash of water if they threaten to catch. Add the chopped tomatoes and green chillies. Cook them down for about ten minutes. Do not move on before you see it. Add the blanched pieces to the masala. Cook it over a medium heat.
5. Stir and break it up gently with a spoon. Give it about twelve to fifteen minutes. Keep cooking until that liquid has gone. The dish should be fairly dry. Cook it right through without exception.
6. Sprinkle over the garam masala. Stir it through and cook a minute more. Scatter the chopped coriander. Add the fine strips of raw ginger. Add the slit green chillies. Squeeze over the lemon juice. Crumble paneer or firm tofu roughly.
7. Add it to the finished masala. Cook it for five minutes only. Finish it exactly the same way. Serve it hot with naan or roti. Serve sliced raw onion with lemon. Serve raita if you like. Offal dishes do not keep well.

Technique

• Brain is subject to specific controls in many countries because of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies — the family that includes BSE, which caused variant CJD in humans. In the EU and UK, bovine brain and spinal cord, and the skull and brain of older sheep and goats, are specified risk material that must be removed from the food chain; the United States has comparable prohibitions on bovine brain. Rules differ by country and change over time.
• Buy brain only from a licensed butcher, and ask whether it is legal to sell where you are. In much of Europe you cannot legally buy lamb or goat brain from an older animal; in Pakistan, India and many other countries it is sold openly and widely eaten. Both are true, and the atlas records both without moralising.
• Scrapie is the TSE of sheep and goats and there is no evidence it transmits to humans — the human concern arose from BSE in cattle, and the controls on sheep and goat tissue are precautionary. The atlas records that distinction rather than blurring it.
• Paneer or firm tofu crumbled into the same masala makes a good dish in its own right, since the spicing is the substance of it. Add it in the last five minutes only, since paneer toughens with long cooking.
• Brain is extremely perishable — it spoils faster than almost any other cut. It should be pale pink-grey and firm and smell clean and faintly sweet; any sour or ammonia smell, or grey or green discolouration, means discard it. Use it the day you buy it.
• Soak it at least an hour in cold salted water with vinegar or lemon, changing the water two or three times until it runs fairly clear. That draws out blood and firms the tissue.
• Peel off the membrane and pull out the blood vessels under cold running water. The membrane never softens and the vessels taste metallic — it takes about ten minutes and it is genuinely necessary.
• Blanch it for five minutes in salted water with a little turmeric before frying. Raw brain disintegrates immediately in a pan; blanched, it holds together long enough to cook properly.
• Cook it right through, until firm and opaque with no soft centre. Handle it with clean hands and a separate board and wash everything afterwards.
• Wait for the oil to separate and rise from the onion, tomato and spice base before the brain goes in. That separation, bhunna, is the reliable indicator in this cooking.
• Cook the onions a full fifteen to twenty minutes until deep golden and jammy. This is the step people rush, and under-cooked onions leave the masala thin and harsh.
• Cook until the liquid the brain releases has gone. The dish should be fairly dry and cling rather than pool.
• The raw ginger strips and lemon at the end are not decoration. They lift a dish that is otherwise very rich.
• Offal dishes do not keep. Eat it the day it is made, and do not freeze it.

Substitutions

• Crumbled paneer or firm tofu replaces brain entirely and takes the same masala.
• Scrambled egg makes another version of the same dish, cooked the same way.
• Ghee replaces oil and gives a richer result.
• Tinned chopped tomatoes replace fresh out of season.
• Ginger and garlic paste can be replaced by crushed fresh garlic and grated ginger.
• Fewer chillies make a considerably milder dish.

Variations

• Maghaz masala made with scrambled egg is a common substitute in households that avoid offal.
• Kaleji masala uses liver in the same base and cooks faster still.
• Gurda kapura is the kidney and testicle version sold at the same stalls.
• Tawa maghaz is cooked on a flat griddle in front of the customer.
• Paya, the trotter stew, is the other great Pakistani offal dish.
• Cervelle de veau meunière in France cooks brain in butter with capers and lemon.

Frequently asked questions

What is Maghaz Masala?

Maghaz Masala is a main from Pakistan: goat or lamb brain fried with tomato, ginger and green chilli until creamy.

How long does Maghaz Masala take to make?

Maghaz Masala takes 30 minutes plus soaking of preparation and 30 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Maghaz Masala?

Yes, within limits. Crumbled paneer or firm tofu replaces brain entirely and takes the same masala. Scrambled egg makes another version of the same dish, cooked the same way. Ghee replaces oil and gives a richer result. Tinned chopped tomatoes replace fresh out of season. Ginger and garlic paste can be replaced by crushed fresh garlic and grated ginger. Fewer chillies make a considerably milder dish.

What is the most important thing to get right in Maghaz Masala?

Use it the day you buy it. Wash everything thoroughly afterwards. Cook it right through. Do not serve it pink or soft in the centre. Put the brain in a bowl of cold salted water. Add a tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice. Soak it for at least an hour. Keep going until it runs fairly clear. Brain is covered by a thin membrane. Work under cold running water. Peel the membrane away with your fingers.